everything that has the name allen&heath tagged to it is fantastic, i only know their dj mixers and they're so fuckin' awesome but: very expensive. those 399 bucks sure are a bargain, but in the end it might be a little overdressed for your needs. my girlfriend has a very good yamaha mixer that's very portable but sturdy, but it has no xlr out, but there's a bigger model that has 6 mic ins and xlr out at a little above 200 bucks, i can recommend that one.
http://www.zzounds.com/item--YAMMG124C